Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Before entering this mountain valley, Yang Kai had suspected that Lei Gu was leading him into a trap. The most obvious sign was Murong Xiao Xiao's screams. Her screams had been increasingly urgent, and the intention behind those screams could not be more obvious.

Needless to say, he rushed into the mountain valley alone in a fit of 'uncontrollable rage' just to see what Lei Gu was up to. After that, he simply went with the flow and achieved what he wanted in the end. He had baited Lei Gu out of the shadows; unfortunately, he now had to act cautiously or Gao Xue Ting would suffer the consequences.

Whilst their conversation was going on, the Demon Qi in the mountain valley had reduced drastically. All of it had flowed into Ah Wang's belly. As the darkness gradually dissipated, the original scenery in the mountain valley gradually emerged once again. Many figures stood tall while the ground was littered with countless corpses. The entire mountain valley was no longer green and lush like before. Looking around, the place was a mess, and the ground was practically stained red with blood.

Thousands stood in the centre of the mountain valley protected by a number of Spirit Arrays that were flickering slightly. These people were the cultivators from all over the Southern Territory who came to participate in the Martial Gathering and they were the only group of people that had yet to succumb to the Demon Qi. It could be seen that they only managed to hold out until now by relying on those Spirit Arrays. Nevertheless, every one of them was pale, regardless of their cultivation. They were clearly reaching their limits. On the other hand, tens of thousands of Demons gathered around this group of people, besieging them.

The sudden disappearance of the boundless Demon Qi surprised everyone.

*Shua shua shua…*

The sounds of something slicing through the air rang out as powerful auras emerged one after another and shot into the mountain valley. It was none other than the reinforcements Yang Kai brought with him. When Fan Wu and the others saw that Yang Kai was safe and sound, they quietly let out a breath of relief; however, their attention was quickly drawn towards Lei Gu.

Everybody could see that Yang Kai was currently confronting Lei Gu, while Lei Gu was holding a woman hostage. The woman also seemed to have experienced demonification and it was unclear what her relationship with Yang Kai was.

"Little Xue Ting!" Wen Zi Shan's voice called out, the expression on his face never having been more solemn. In the time it took for him to fling his purple robes out of the way, he had already arrived next to Yang Kai and was now staring at Lei Gu deeply. There was no need to ask anything; he already understood the situation in front of them.

Lei Gu's expression was dark as he slowly swept his gaze over his surroundings only to see enemy Masters standing in all directions. He instantly understood that the battle was lost and his plans were a complete failure. Thus, he couldn't help nursing a grudge in his heart. Although he had tens of thousands of demonified cultivators on his side still, the difference in strength was too great. In addition, they had not been demonified for long so they required precise control and would be unable to play a significant role on their own. The only thing they could be used for was to create a distraction.

"Do you think you can escape?" Yang Kai looked at Lei Gu and lightly continued, "Do you believe me when I say I can make you disappear so thoroughly that not even bones remain with just a simple order?"

Lei Gu laughed, "Of course I believe you, but I can drag her down with me before I die. If you don't believe it, you can try me."

Yang Kai nodded, "I believe you."

Pausing for a moment, Yang Kai continued, "Like I said, your life means nothing to me. Let her go and I will spare you."

"You can't!" An angry roar rang out. It was the Holy Master of Heavenly Martial Holy Land, Ma Qing. He was covered in blood, and nobody could tell whether it was his own or someone else's. His expression was savage as he stared at Lei Gu coldly, "He is the culprit behind all of this, we cannot let him escape. It's clear that he has been plotting this for a long time. If we can capture him, we might still be able to get some information out of him."

Both Yang Kai and Wen Zi Shan turned around to stare at Ma Qing in unison.

Ma Qing glared furiously, "If you let him escape today, the Southern Territory might face another catastrophe in the future. What do you think, Golden Envoy Xiao?"

Xiao Yu Yang furrowed his brow together without saying anything. Essentially, he agreed with what Ma Qing was saying and he also knew that Ma Qing's words were not coming from selfish intentions. The Southern Territory had been hunting and suppressing Demon Spirits for more than ten years now and originally thought that they had more or less wiped them out. Even if one or two had escaped the purge, so few Demon Spirits would not be able to cause any trouble, but how could they have known that the entire Orthodoxy Temple had fallen to the Demon Spirits without anyone noticing?

Nobody knew who the mastermind behind this grand conspiracy was, nor what this conspiracy was ultimately hoping to achieve. If they could capture Lei Gu, there would certainly be some hope of obtaining some useful information from him. With that, they would be a little more prepared in the future. At the very least, they could find out who else among the Masters in the Southern Territory were being possessed by Demon Spirits.

Based on that point alone, they could not let Lei Gu escape. Unfortunately, Xiao Yu Yang knew that the decision was not in his hands. It was true that he was a Golden Star Envoy of Star Soul Palace who could act as its representative, and under normal circumstances, none of the cultivators of the Southern Territory would dare to disobey him if he issued an order, but right now…

Xiao Yu Yang turned and glanced at the unfamiliar faces of the many Masters around him, smiling bitterly in his heart, [I don't think anything I say at this moment will change the situation. Yang Kai and Wen Zi Shan obviously want to save Gao Xue Ting from Lei Gu. I will only humiliate myself if I step forward and openly oppose them.]

When Ma Qing saw that Xiao Yu Yang was not saying anything and immediately understood what the latter was worrying about. Thus, he stopped putting his hopes in Xiao Yu Yang and instead turned to look at Wen Zi Shan, "Temple Master Wen, I understand your feelings, but I hope that you can consider the bigger picture. The survival of the Southern Territory must be our top priority. You are the Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple, everything you say and do will become a model to the billions of cultivators in the Southern Territory. Please think twice!"

With such a heavy responsibility to bear, Wen Zi Shan showed a pained expression as he asked slowly, "Brother Ma, what would you do if it was Madam Qi in this situation instead?"

Madam Qi was Ma Qing's wife, a Second-Order Emperor, and was at this moment, standing right next to him. Ma Qing's face twitched in response to this question, but he gritted his teeth and declared, "Sacrifices for the greater good are necessary!"

His voice was filled with sorrow, as if he had truly given up on Madam Qi, and as soon as those words left his mouth, the woman next to him dressed in palace robes couldn't help but tremble and slightly lower her eyes.

Wen Zi Shan gave a wry smile, "Brother Ma, I admire your valiance…"

"Shut him up!" Yang Kai snapped as he suddenly shot a look at Fan Wu.

Fan Wu's figure flickered and appeared in front of Ma Qing in the next instant, raising his hand to knock Ma Qing out.

Ma Qing was shocked and the longsword in his hand bloomed with countless sword shadows that shot towards Fan Wu. In response, Fan Wu simply snorted and released a wild aura from his body, causing Ma Qing to feel as though he was dragged into an ancient world. The Emperor Qi in Ma Qing's body became disordered, and his sword technique collapsed as a result.

Meanwhile, Fan Wu's hand that was reaching out towards Ma Qing bypassed the sword shadows like a butterfly fluttering among the falling flower petals and accurately struck Ma Qing's chest. The power contained in his fingertips was extremely astounding, enough to kill Ma Qing at any moment.

The people from Heavenly Martial Holy Land were shocked as they never expected their Holy Master to be subdued in a single move. Fortunately, the other party had no intention to kill; otherwise, Ma Qing would not be standing there alive at this moment. Ma Qing might have consumed a lot of his strength previously, but he was still a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. How could he be defeated so easily?

"A Divine Spirit!" Ma Qing's eyes bulged as he stared at Fan Wu blankly with a look of disbelief. The man standing in front of him was a genuine Divine Spirit! Although he had never met Fan Wu before, Ma Qing could not be mistaken about the unique aura coming from the other party. This person was a Divine Spirit that had assumed human form.

Ma Qing didn't know what Divine Spirit this man was, but he knew that he wouldn't be a match for him even if he was at his peak, let alone in his current condition. What horrified him even more was that a Divine Spirit was obeying Yang Kai's commands. [W-What is going on? How can Yang Kai order a Divine Spirit around?]

Fan Wu looked at Ma Qing coldly, "I'm not in a good mood right now, so don't force me to kill you!"

He poked Ma Qing lightly in the chest, making Ma Qing stagger several steps backwards from the force.

Ma Qing opened his mouth again; however, Madam Qi, who was standing next to him, tugged at his sleeve to warn him, so in the end, he just let out a long sigh. He could tell that the Divine Spirit in front of him was not bluffing. This man really would kill him if he stepped out of line again.

Thousands of cultivators from the Southern Territory and tens of thousands of Demons faced each other in the mountain valley, but it was completely silent. It was almost as if all eyes were fixed on Yang Kai and Lei Gu. Those two were the keys to resolving this situation.

"Alright. Now, we can talk." Yang Kai's gaze passed over Gao Xue Ting and stared directly at Lei Gu, "If you want to die, I'll grant your wish right now. I guarantee there won't be a shred of you left."

Wen Zi Shan's eyes flashed at those words, and his heart leapt into his throat. Luckily, Lei Gu did not move, showing no intention to kill.

Yang Kai smiled lightly at this sight, "It looks like you want to live after all! Good, it must not have been easy for you to possess a body and come back to life. Moreover, you even managed to possess a Third-Order Emperor, the height of luxury. Who would die willingly under such circumstances?"

Yang Kai's gaze became sharp as he waved his hand around and continued, "Look around. Do you think you have a chance to leave here today?"

"Are you threatening me!?" Lei Gu coldly snorted.

Yang Kai replied, "I just want you to recognize the reality of your situation. Oh right, I forgot to introduce you, do you see that man standing over there? He is a Divine Spirit from the Eastern Territory, Fan Wu. That is Divine Spirit Cang Gou, and last but not least, this beautiful woman is Divine Spirit Luan Feng. As for them, they are the thirty-two Monster Kings serving under them…"

When Luan Feng heard those words, her lips twitched faintly, while on the contrary, it was the thirty-two Monster Kings who revealed fierce expressions and pushed their Monster Qi to press down on Lei Gu.

Meanwhile, many of the cultivators in the Southern Territory felt extremely frightened as well. It was shocking enough when they watched Ma Qing being subdued by Fan Wu in a single move. Even so, it wasn't until this moment that they realized that there was not just one Divine Spirit here, but three! In addition, there were also thirty-two Monster Kings!

[What kind of force is this!? It's practically unheard of and never seen before! Even Star Soul Palace couldn't bring out such a powerful force, right?] What made them slightly more at ease was that the Divine Spirits and Yang Kai seemed to get along pretty well, so there was no need to worry that they would cause trouble for the Southern Territory.

"Additionally, there are more than two hundred Emperor Realm Masters from the Northern Territory with me…" Yang Kai pointed to the other side where those he had brought here from the North raised their heads and puffed out their chests proudly, not willing to look weaker than those Monster Kings.

Lei Gu shouted angrily, "You think that's enough to scare me!?"

Yang Kai replied lightly, "I'm not trying to scare you. I just wanted to let you know that we still have room for negotiation."

"Negotiation? Negotiate what?" Lei Gu snorted. Even while he was speaking, he kept a firm grip on Gao Xue Ting, refusing to give anybody a chance at silently taking him down.

"You want to live, and I want that woman, so the solution is simple. I let you go, and you let go of her."

Lei Gu sneered, "Let me leave first. Once I confirm my safety, I will let her return."

Yang Kai laughed coldly, "Do you think that's possible?"

Wen Zi Shan interjected in their conversation, "I will replace her. You can take me as your hostage instead. I will even allow you to pour your Demon Qi into me!"